eHam

eHam Forums => Station Building => Topic started by: BOLOMRK1 on April 02, 2008, 10:11:32 PM

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: BOLOMRK1 on April 02, 2008, 10:11:32 PM

Hello everyone,

A bit of info about me, then I will get to myquestion.

I grew up during the “CB” craze of the 70’s and hadstarted working on my Amateur license when "Life, theUniverse and Everything" had other plans.

I regained my interested in Amateur Radio a whileback and plan to have my Tech license by the end ofthis month.

I am also training on Morse so that I can advance toGeneral by the end of the year. I know for some thatis considered a pretty wide time spread, but I liketo get experience/knowledge before diving to far tofast.

Some of my interested in Amateur Radio are : DXing (both voice and CW). Contesting (start simple and work my way up). I think “low power” contacts would be a real challenge worth trying. Some basic antenna designing. Who knows what might come next.

I have a small, modest budget (2K - 3K) for equipmentstart up(transceiver/antenna etc.. towers will not bea major problem).

I figure to start with simple wire antennas and workmy way up to commercial grade antennas.

This leaves the transceiver side of the equipment andmy question.

I have gone (and still going) thru a lot of the eHamforums trying to get a feel for the differenttransceiver options, but not getting it correlated inmy head yet. Still a lot I do not comprehend.

What would those of you who have been in AmateurRadio for a while, and have gained the experience andknowledge, recommend for a start up rig that wouldcover most of my interest listed above? Having aBase/Mobile rig would be nice but "my main goal" isa Base unit for now.

I would prefer to spend more money on a goodtransceiver now and start with simple wire antennas,as I believe the antennas will be the cheaperupgrades in the future.

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: WB2WIK on April 03, 2008, 08:47:23 AM

Where are you located, exactly?

From your signature, I'd guess "Texas," but Texas is larger than many countries and doesn't nail it down very much.

The reason I ask is this:

You would be BEST off joining a local ham radio club, visiting local hams' stations and getting local advice, which is way more valuable than "internet" advice from people you've never met and likely won't.

I can give you a list of local ham clubs if I knew what town you were in.

You may also by chance find somebody right here on eHam.net in your town or close to it, so you can get together and down a cold one while talking ham radio and maybe getting a station demo.

Good luck!

73

Steve WB2WIK/6

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: WW5AA on April 03, 2008, 08:47:53 AM

Larry,

Even misunderstood by long time hams is the importance of antenna systems. The worst of the new transcievers will work wonders with a great antenna system. The best transciever in the world can not over come a poor antenna! Start out by reading as much as you can about antennas....continue on by experimenting with homebrew wire antennas. Join a local club and check out radios at Field Day and hamfests. There is no "Best Radio", everyone will differ on this question.

73 de Lindy

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: WW5AA on April 03, 2008, 08:51:15 AM

OOooppps

Should be transceiver!

73 de Lindy

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: W5GA on April 03, 2008, 10:27:25 AM

You no longer *have* to know morse to get general ticket. That requirement has been deleted.

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: K8AC on April 03, 2008, 11:06:43 AM

A Kenwood TS-480 SAT would fit your requirements pretty well. It's a better performer than rigs such as the Icom 706 which are basically mobile rigs. The 480 doesn't take up much space, and adapts to mobile or vacation use very well. Another transceiver available only on the second hand market is the Yaesu FT-900. I've seen them for $500-700 recently. I used one for a year or two when I got back on the air several years ago and a friend of mine made the DXCC Honor Roll using the FT-900 recently. Both the 480 and FT-900 can be fitted with CW filters, and have auto-tuners.

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: BOLOMRK1 on April 04, 2008, 02:45:25 PM

To everyone the replied to my post:

THANKS

WB2WIK

I guess it would have help to have noted that I am located in Mt. Pleasant Tx., about 120 mileseast of Dallas and 60 miles West of Texarkana off I30.

The two nearest clubs to me are in Sulphur Springs and Longview,according to the ARRL web site.

Kind of far to be driving every week with fuel prices the way they are.

WW5AA

Thanks for the info about antenna systems. I figure to start small and get more informationbefore I make the mistake of spending a lot on a bad choice.

W5GA

I knew that the Morse requirement for the TECH lic. had been removed but not about thechange for the GENERAL Lic. I guess this explains why I need to do a lot ofresearch before leaping.

K8AC

Thanks for the radio information.I have looked at the spec's on the TS-480 and liked what I saw.

Then I saw the spec's on the TS-2000 family. So I have at least two models from Kenwoodthat are high on the list.

Still have to check out other vendors models and users reviews before making my mind up.

Again to everone; Thanks.

Larry

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: K8GU on April 07, 2008, 09:34:44 AM

Yeah. Find someone locally to help you choose a used radio that was good when it was new. I'm thinking an Elecraft K2/100 or an IC-765, maybe a TS-850. The TS-930 is a good one, too, but there are a lot of basketcases out there these days. The FT-1000MP is a little more expensive, but also a good choice.

Don't spend your wad too fast. With one of these radios and a couple of wires, you might be able to get on the air for half what you budgeted. Spend the rest on antennas once you learn what you need to accomplish what you want.

Title: New and looking for infor/advice
Post by: WB2WIK on April 07, 2008, 10:11:45 AM

>RE: New and looking for infor/advice Reply by BOLOMRK1 on April 4, 2008 Mail this to a friend! To everyone the replied to my post:

THANKS

WB2WIK

I guess it would have help to have noted that I am located in Mt. Pleasant Tx., about 120 miles east of Dallas and 60 miles West of Texarkana off I30.

The two nearest clubs to me are in Sulphur Springs and Longview, according to the ARRL web site.

Kind of far to be driving every week with fuel prices the way they are.<

::Nobody has club meetings every week. Normally, club meetings are once per month and it would definitely pay to join a local club and attend at least a few meetings. There is *NO* substitute for "hands on" experience with equipment, and local advice.